Month: February 2013

Ten illegal immigrants from Bangladesh held

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Ten Bangladeshi nationals, staying illegally in Wadala area of central Mumbai, were arrested today, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a transit camp area in Wadala and detained 78 people this morning, senior inspector at Wadala Truck Terminal police station Nagesh Jadhav said.

After verification, three men and seven women were found to be Bangladeshi nationals and staying illegally in the city since long,” Jadhav said.

They were engaged in doing labour work, he said, addingthat, “the accused would be produced before a local court
tomorrow.”

Maoists holed up in deep forests: Jharkhand DGP

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Faced with intense combing operation, Maoists in Jharkhand are holed up in dense forest areas in selected pockets, posing a dilemma to police on which part of the jungles they should target them, a top police officer said here today.

Although their strength has come down, whatever numbers left (in the Maoist ranks) is confined to the deep forests,” Director General of Police G S Rath told reporters here.

Maoist arrested, landmine recovered

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A Maoist, wanted in more than six cases, was today arrested in Ranchi district, the police said.

The Maoist, who was identified as Shivnath Munda, was nabbed at Rahe area of the district, the sources said here.

His interrogation led to the recovery of a landmine, the sources said adding the rebel was wanted in half-a-dozen
naxal-related cases.

———————-PTI

Police searching for couple

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Police are searching for a couple who allegedly absconded with gold jewellery weighing 200 sovereigns which were pledged at their pawn shop.

Some people from areas including Keezhakarai and Ramanathapuram had pledged their jewels at the shop for loans
at a low interest but when they went to get back their jewels,they found the shop was closed for the past few days.

Following this a complaint was lodged, police said.

—————————PTI

I got out at the wrong time, says Pujara

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Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara today said he got out at the “wrong time” after doing all the hard work on the second day of the first cricket Test against Australia here.

India finished the day at 182 for three in reply to Australia’s first-innings total 380 all out, and Pujara, who
was dismissed for 44, felt the hosts were in a comfortable position.

I was set and things were going smoothly for us. But unfortunately, I got out at the wrong time. Still we are in a good position. I am happy about it and I have also contributed at the right time,” Pujara said.

18 years on, man held guilty of niece’s rape; sent to jail

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A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to ten-year rigorous imprisonment by a local court for raping his minor niece 18 years ago.

Suresh Atote was pronounced guilty by Additional Sessions Judge D M Deshmukh, who awarded the jail term to the convict yesterday.

The Judge did not accept Atote’s defence that he was with his friend Ramlakhan Shukla, who deposed in the court, when the crime took place in 1995.

Atote, who is maternal uncle of the victim, then nine- year-old, resided with her family in village Sangapur-Hirpur in Murtizapur taluka of this district in Vidarbha.

Rs 10 L reward for info on Hyd blasts, Police get CCTV footage

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CCTV footage from Dilsukhnagar blast site was being examined by investigators, police said today, while Andhra Pradesh government announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for credible information leading to cracking of the
case.

Dismissing speculation that the CCTV cameras near the blast site were not functioning, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said the video footage was available to them and was being analysed.

The CCTV camera which was at the spot at Dilsukhnagar had been functioning till about 8.30 PM on Thursday.

Bharathiar among 10 varsities in India to be part of Portal

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Bharathiar University here has been identified as one among the 10 Universities in the country to be a part of National Portal on Students Grievance Redressal Prevention of Unfair Practices, by University Grants Commission.

Dr G James Pitchai, Vice Chancellor of the University, has been nominated as an expert for the National Portal and he will be attending the expert committee meeting scheduled for February 27 at UGC, Delhi, to discuss the modalities of functioning of the portal, a university release said today.

Load test of first unit of Palatana project in Tripura held up

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Though the first unit of the 726 MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in South Tripura is ready for commercial production, a full load test could not be done because of a legal hurdle.

The full load test could not be done because a land owner at Byrnihat in Meghalaya has filed a case recently
demanding compensation for erection of a tower on his land,” said S K Dubey, Managing Director of ONGC Tripura Power Corporation.

A 660 km power transmission line has been drawn from Palatana to Byrnihat in Meghalaya via Silchar for distribution of power to other Northeastern states.

Wildlife smuggler held

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A wanted wildlife smuggler was arrested in Dehradun district, Rajaji National Park Director S P Subuddhi said today.

Arjun Nath alias ‘Kaua,’ who is involved in a number of wildlife smuggling cases in the state, was arrested yesterday by Intelligence Bureau and Wildlife Crime Bureau sleuths. He was nabbed from Haripurkalan village near Rishikesh at the instance of three other wildlife smugglers, Subuddhi said.

The trio were held earlier yesterday with 30-kg of Pangolin and snake skin, out of which, two-kg had allegedly
been supplied by Nath.

Vatican condemns scandal ahead of pope’s resignation

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The Vatican today condemned Italian media reports of intrigue, corruption and blackmail among senior prelates, saying these could be a form of pressure to sway voting in next month’s conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi dismissed as “gossip, disinformation and sometimes calumny” the reports, which are linked to an investigation by a committee of cardinals last year over a series of damaging leaks of confidential papal documents.

In a statement on Vatican radio’s website, Lombardi also referred to the upcoming conclave saying there was

UK credit downgrade provokes call for change

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The man in charge of Britain’s economy says he won’t change direction despite a rating agency’s decision to downgrade the nation’s credit rating and spurned renewed calls from the opposition for more stimulus for a
flat-lining economy.

Treasury chief George Osborne declared that the action by Moody’s Investors Service redoubled his commitment to the government’s police of cutting spending in an effort to reduce deficits.

But Labour Party spokesman Ed Balls said today that the government should increase borrowing to give immediate
stimulus to the economy.

26/11 case: Pak judicial panel’s India visit may be delayed

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A Pakistani judicial commission’s visit to India in connection with the Mumbai attacks case is likely to be delayed as an anti-terrorism court today sought an assurance that members of the panel will be allowed to cross-examine key Indian witnesses.

Prosecutors informed the court conducting the trial of seven suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attack that they would provide an undertaking from the Indian government that the panel will have the power of cross-examination.

Cash, ornaments stolen from Indore temple

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Thieves broke into a temple and stole Rs 5,000 in cash and other valuables in the wee hours of today, police said.

A 250 gm silver “chatri” (umbrella), ornaments made of mixed alloy, brass and donation box having over Rs 5,000 in
cash were taken away by the unidentified thieves from Chandra- Prabhu Digamber Jain temple at Rajendra Nagar, police officer S S Parihar said.

There was no security guard at the shrine which is run and maintained by a local Jain society, he said.

The empty and broken donation box was later found a few metres away from the temple premises, Parihar added.

Another BJP MLA resigns; Karna CM says no threat to govt

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Another ruling BJP MLA resigned his assembly membership, further jolting the party in the poll-bound state.

H S Shankarlinge Gowda, who represents Chamaraja Assembly constituency, waited for more than 90 minutes for Speaker K G Bopaiah and submitted his resignation letter, official sources said.

Bopaiah immediately accepted the resignation of Gowda, who is now all set to join JDS.

Pakistan behind Hyderabad blasts: LK Advani

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BJP leader LK Advani on Saturday blamed Pakistan squarely for Thursday’s blasts in Hyderabad, saying it is involved in a proxy war against India.

The neighbouring country has not been successful in waging a war against India in the last few decades, so it has resorted to proxy war,” Advani told reporters here.

The neighbouring country has taken recourse to terrorism to trouble India,” he said, adding, “there is no doubt that there is the hand of the neighbouring country in Hyderabad blasts.”

Pakistan Bus Crash: 17 Killed

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17 people have been killed in a bus crash in northwestern Pakistan.

Police officer Asif Sharif said that the victims were part of a wedding party.

They were killed on February 22 when their bus plunged into a canal along a narrow road.

He says rescuers were still searching for 11 people still missing in the accident on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Sharif said that the dead included nine women and five children.

The victims were relatives of the bride and were going to the nearby city of Mardan.

Another BJP MLA resigns; Karnataka CM says no threat to govt

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Another ruling BJP MLA resigned his Assembly membership, further jolting the party in the poll-bound state.

HS Shankarlinge Gowda, who represents Chamaraja Assembly constituency, waited for more than 90 minutes for Speaker KG Bopaiah and submitted his resignation letter, official sources said.

Bopaiah immediately accepted the resignation of Gowda, who is now all set to join JDS.

Iran selects 16 sites for new nuclear plants

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Iran has selected 16 locations for the construction of nuclear power plants as part of a plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity at multiple sites over the next 15 years.

State TV says today that experts at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran have finished studies to select the best locations across the country. It added that sites were chosen in part for their resistance to earthquakes and military air strikes.

The Islamic republic says it needs 20 large-scale plants to meet its growing electricity needs over the next one-and-a-half decades.

Zardari calls for inter-faith harmony to tackle terror

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Amidst calls from Pakistan’s religious parties for talks with the Taliban, President Asif Ali Zardari said there is a need to adopt an “approach of peace and reconciliation to eliminate the menace of extremism and terrorism”.

Zardari made the remarks while addressing the concluding session of a national conference on inter-faith harmony at the presidency.

He called for unity and harmony among the people to address the challenges of extremism and terrorism.

Al Qaeda training militants to ‘whack’ western innocents

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Jihadists groups in the UK, which were trained by Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, have been ordered to spread their knowledge throughout Europe so fanatics can “whack” innocent people here, it has emerged.

Details of the orders emerged after the ringleaders of a Birmingham terror cell were convicted on Thursday of planning a suicide bombing campaign in the UK.

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, now face life behind bars after plotting to kill hundreds of people with eight suicide bombers armed with guns.

17 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan

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As many as 17 Taliban militants have been killed during a series of security operations launched since Friday in Afghanistan, the government said Saturday.

According to the country’s interior ministry, four militants were also arrested in the operations, carried out in the provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, Kandahar and Logar, Xinhua reported.

IANS

Over 70 percent turnout in Mizoram by-poll

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Over 70 percent of the total 17,054 voters Saturday cast their votes in the by-election to the tribal-dominated Chalfilh assembly constituency in Mizoram, officials said.

“There is no incident reported anywhere from the assembly segment,” an election department official told reporters here.

The by-poll was necessitated after the death of sitting Congress legislator Chawngtinthanga Sept 16 last year.

Sajid stands up for Sonakshi

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Sonakshi Sinha invited comparisons with Reena Roy when she stepped out in a 1980s disco-style look for the launch of “Thank god it’s Friday”, her special song from upcoming film “Himmatwala”. But the movie’s director, Sajid Khan, came to her rescue.

Sonakshi was dressed in a shimmery silver dress complete with a headgear. She stated the look was inspired by Parveen Babi’s look in “Shaan”. However, mediapersons could not help but point out a resemblance with yesteryear actress Reena Roy’s look in songs like “Disco station” and “Jaane jaan”.

Siberian thaw likely to worsen global warming

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A rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius in mercury is likely to melt the permanently frozen ground over a large chunk of Siberia, possibly releasing gigatonnes of carbon from soils that could aggravate global warming, says a study.

“As permafrost covers 24 percent of the land surface of the northern hemisphere, significant thawing could affect vast areas and release gigatonnes of carbon,” said Anton Vaks from the Oxford department of earth sciences, who led the research.